scholarly journals BENTHIC COMMUNITIES AND GEOMORPHOLOGY OF THE TESORO ISLAND CORAL REEF, COLOMBIAN CARIBBEAN

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Armando Sánchez M.
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Benthic Communities ◽  
Windward Side ◽  
Leeward Side ◽  
Acropora Cervicornis ◽  
The Past ◽  
Montastraea Annularis ◽  
Caribbean Coral Reef ◽  
Mud Diapirism ◽  
Reef Platform

The benthic communities distribution in Tesoro Island (Colombian Caribbean) coral reef was determined by cartography of reef morphology and functional groups from aerial photographstheodolite triangularon, and bottom transects over depths ranging from Oto 30 m. Tesoro Island is a sand cay reef developed over an emerged reef platform whose basal cone possibly originated by mud diapirism on the continental shelf. The benthic communities are distributed as subzones of the geomorphologic units. The reef crest lies along the breaker zone, formed by Millepora spp. buttresses covered on their tops by Palythoa spp. and seawardly by a turf of Dictyota spp. The rear reef (varying from 0.5-1.5 m in depth) is composed of pavement and grooves with live Pontes pontes and P. astreoides. The foré-reef terrace (2 to 9 m in depth) shows a low relief spur and grooves, composed of Acropora pa/mata skeletons on the windward side and A. cervicornis on the leeward side; sandy accumulations with dense and tall colonies of the gorgonaceans Pseudopterogorgia spp. are also appreciated. In the sandy reef platform there are monospecific patches of Montastraea annularis, P. pontes, M. faveolata, dead Acropora cervicornis and wide sandy zoneswhere patches of Halimedamonile are found. The slope edge, (depths ranging between 7 to >30m) shows mixed corals and gorgonaceans, at the drop-off, laminar corals, especially Montastraea franksiand Agaricia spp., jointly with other deep water organisms such as ellisellid gorgonaceans and antipatharians are found. The benthic communities distribution is influenced by reef geomorphology, wave energy diffraction and the past mass mortality of Acropora.

scholarly journals Facultative scavenging feeding habits in Acanthurus chirurgus (Bloch, 1787) (Acanthuriformes: Acanthuridae)

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamín Delgado-Pech ◽  
Antonio Almazán-Becerril ◽  
Jorge Peniche-Pérez ◽  
José Adán Caballero-Vázquez
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Benthic Communities ◽  
Animal Tissues ◽  
The Past ◽  
Fish Flesh ◽  
Routine Monitoring ◽  
Mexican Caribbean ◽  
The Family ◽  
Coral Reef Ecosystems

The family Acanthuridae is a key component of coral reef ecosystems as it controls macroalgae biomass buildup. During routine monitoring of benthic communities in the Mexican Caribbean, we observed unusual behaviour of a group of Acanthurus chirurgus, which were feeding on a tuna head left on site by travel tour personnel. This phenomenon has been documented in other herbivorous fish species, especially in places where tourism is a major coastal activity. Although many Acanthurus seek additional sources of protein by feeding on detritus, it is unusual for them to feed directly on fish flesh. Acanthurus chirurgus will incorporate proteins from animal tissues whenever the opportunity arises. Such opportunities occurred rarely in the past, but have become more frequent recently, related to increasing tourism activities where flesh is used as bait to attract the surrounding fauna.

scholarly journals Rapid ecosystem-scale consequences of acute deoxygenation on a Caribbean coral reef

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maggie D. Johnson ◽  
Jarrod J. Scott ◽  
Matthieu Leray ◽  
Noelle Lucey ◽  
Lucia M. Rodriguez Bravo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Benthic Community ◽  
Benthic Communities ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Live Coral ◽  
Caribbean Coral ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Caribbean Coral Reef ◽  
Tropical Reef ◽  
Acute Event

AbstractLoss of oxygen in the global ocean is accelerating due to climate change and eutrophication, but how acute deoxygenation events affect tropical marine ecosystems remains poorly understood. Here we integrate analyses of coral reef benthic communities with microbial community sequencing to show how a deoxygenation event rapidly altered benthic community composition and microbial assemblages in a shallow tropical reef ecosystem. Conditions associated with the event precipitated coral bleaching and mass mortality, causing a 50% loss of live coral and a shift in the benthic community that persisted a year later. Conversely, the unique taxonomic and functional profile of hypoxia-associated microbes rapidly reverted to a normoxic assemblage one month after the event. The decoupling of ecological trajectories among these major functional groups following an acute event emphasizes the need to incorporate deoxygenation as an emerging stressor into coral reef research and management plans to combat escalating threats to reef persistence.

scholarly journals Changes in abundance and composition of a Caribbean coral reef zooplankton community after 25 years

2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan Martin Carrillo Baltodano ◽  
Álvaro Morales Ramírez
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Zooplankton Community ◽  
Zooplankton Abundance ◽  
Calanoid Copepods ◽  
The Past ◽  
Coral Reef Resilience ◽  
Caribbean Coral Reef ◽  
Important Food Source ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Trophic Models

Coral reef zooplankton represents a key community in coral ecosystems, as they are involved in trophic and biogeochemical dynamics, and recruitment processes. Zooplankton abundance, composition and biomass were surveyed at six stations within the coral reef at Cahuita National Park, Limon, Costa Rica, in order to compare with the only previous study conducted during 1984. Samples were collected monthly (September 2010-August 2011). Seston biomass (0.49-85.87 mg/m3) and total abundance (1 145-112 422 ind./m3) fluctuated among the months and the stations. Higher values of these two variables were found in the rainiest months (November 2010 and May 2011). A total of 38 taxa were identified, of which calanoid copepods abundance dominated year round (66 %), followed by appendicularians (12 %). Zooplankton mean abundance in this survey resulted 20 times higher (13 184 ± 4 104 ind./m3)than in 1984 (645 ± 84 ind./m3). Copepods and appendicularians were the groups that differed the most, relative to the 1984 study, resulting in 63 and 170 times more abundant overall, respectively. An increase in terrestrial runoff and nutrient input during the past 30 years could explain these differences. High abundances of zooplankton may constitute an important food source for coral reef organisms in Cahuita ecosystem. In addition, zooplankton abundances here reported for Cahuita are among the worldwide highest coral reef zooplankton abundances, and further trophic models can help elucidate its role in coral reef resilience in the Caribbean Coast of Central America.

Investigation on the drag effect of a rolling element confined in the cavity of a cylindrical roller bearing

2021 ◽  
pp. 135065012110260
Author(s):  
Wenjun Gao ◽  
Shuo Zhang ◽  
Xiaohang Li ◽  
Zhenxia Liu
Keyword(s):  
Open Space ◽  
Roller Bearing ◽  
Flow Characteristics ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
Windward Side ◽  
Leeward Side ◽  
Drag Effect ◽  
Rolling Element ◽  
Cylindrical Roller Bearing ◽  
Cylindrical Roller

In cylindrical roller bearings, the drag effect may be induced by the rolling element translating in a fluid environment of the bearing cavity. In this article, the computational fluid dynamics method and experimental tests are employed to analyse its flow characteristics and pressure distribution. The results indicate that the pressure difference between the windward side and the leeward side of the cylinder is raised in view of it blocking the flow field. Four whirl vortexes are formed in four outlets of two wedge-shaped areas between the front part of the cylindrical surface and adjacent walls for the cylinder of L/ D = 1.5 at Re = 4.5 × 103. Vortex shedding is found in the direction of cylinder axis at Re = 4.5 × 104. The relationship between drag coefficient and Reynolds number is illustrated, obviously higher than that of the two-dimensional cylinder in open space.

scholarly journals 2.5D Flexible Wind Sensor Using Differential Plate Capacitors

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 3101
Author(s):  
Yu Wan ◽  
Zhenxiang Yi
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Direction ◽  
Parallel Plate ◽  
Electrode Array ◽  
Copper Electrode ◽  
Windward Side ◽  
Leeward Side ◽  
Electrode Layer ◽  
Young’S Moduli ◽  
Speed Up

In this paper, a novel 2.5-dimensional (2.5D) flexible wind sensor is proposed based on four differential plate capacitors. This design consists of a windward pillar, two electrode layers, and a support layer, which are all made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) with different Young’s moduli. A 2 mm × 2 mm copper electrode array is located on each electrode layer, forming four parallel plate capacitors as the sensitive elements. The wind in the xy-plane tilts the windward pillar, decreasing two capacitances on the windward side and increasing two capacitances on the leeward side. The wind in the z-axis depresses the windward pillar, resulting in an increase of all four capacitances. Experiments demonstrate that this sensor can measure the wind speed up to 23.9 m/s and the wind direction over the full 360° range of the xy-plane. The sensitivities of wind speed are close to 4 fF·m−1·s and 3 fF·m−1·s in the xy-plane and z-axis, respectively.

An ecological shift in a remote coral atoll of Belize over 25 years

1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
TIMOTHY R. McCLANAHAN ◽  
NYAWIRA A. MUTHIGA
Keyword(s):  
Central America ◽  
Major Change ◽  
Acropora Cervicornis ◽  
Hard Coral ◽  
Population Densities ◽  
Herbivorous Fishes ◽  
Patch Reefs ◽  
The Past ◽  
Algal Abundance ◽  
The Caribbean

Many coral reefs in the Caribbean, and elsewhere, have undergone changes from hard coral to fleshy algal dominance over the past two decades which has often been interpreted as a localized response to eutrophication and fishing. Here, data on the abundance of hard corals and algae from lagoonal patch reefs distributed throughout a large (260 km2) remote reef atoll located approximately 30 km offshore from the sparsely-populated coast of Belize, Central America, are compared with a study of these patch reefs conducted 25 years previously. Data and observations indicate that these patch reefs have undergone a major change in their ecology associated with a 75% reduction in total hard coral, a 99% loss in the cover of Acropora cervicornis and A. palmata, and a 315% increase in algae, which are mostly erect brown algae species in the genera Lobophora, Dictyota, Turbinaria and Sargassum. Such changes have been reported from other Caribbean reefs during the 1980s, but not on such a remote reef and the present changes may be attributed primarily to both a disease that began killing Acropora in this region in the mid 1980s and a reduction in herbivory. The low level of herbivory may be attributable to the disease-induced loss of the sea urchin Diadema antillarum in 1983, or fishing of herbivorous fishes, but both explanations are speculative. The present density of fisherfolk is low, and their efforts are not targetted at herbivorous fishes, and population densities of D. antillarum 14 years after the mortality are <1 individual per 1000 m2, but there is no comparative data from before the die off. There is, however, no indication that these major changes occurred on the fore reef, because A. palmata is abundant and erect algal abundance is low. We suggest that reported changes in other Caribbean reefs are not necessarily or exclusively influenced by local human factors such as localized intense eutrophication or fishing.

Air movement and heat loss from sheep. II. Thermal insulation of fleece in wind

1980 ◽  
Vol 209 (1175) ◽  
pp. 209-217 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Diffusivity ◽  
Heat Loss ◽  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
General Relation ◽  
Windward Side ◽  
Leeward Side ◽  
Sensible Heat ◽  
Bulk Resistance ◽  
Air Movement ◽  
Dimensionless Constant

Penetration of an animal’s coat by wind reduces its thermal insulation and increases heat loss to the environment. From studies of the sensible heat loss from a life-sized model sheep covered with fleece, the average fleece resistance r¯ f (s cm -1 ) was related to windspeed u (m s -1 ) by 1/ r¯ f ( u ) = l/ r¯ f (0) + cu , where c is a dimensionless constant. As c is expected to be inversely proportional to coat depth Î , the more general relation k¯ ( u ) = k¯ (0) + c'u was evaluated, where k¯ = Î / r¯ f is the thermal diffusivity (cm 2 s -1 ) of the fleece and c' = cÎ is another constant (cm). The orientation of the model to the wind had little effect on the bulk resistance of the fleece, but the resistance on the windward side was substantially lower than on the leeward side.

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